History Main / VillainousParentalInstinct

* ''Film/PansLabyrinth'': Vidal may be a cold-blooded torturer and mass murderer, but he is totally committed to his baby son. It's implied that he only married Carmen because she got pregnant, and [he instructs the doctor to let her die if it saves the baby. When he's finally cornered by Mercedes and the rebels at the end, despite being the {{Determinator}} up until that point, he [[KnowWhenToFoldEm gives up relatively easily]] and calmly hands over the baby to Mercedes, asking her to give him his watch and tell him his LastWords when he grows up. [[spoiler:Mercedes refuses.]]

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. Zigzagged with Malcolm Merlyn. Although he's officially dead he takes the risk of coming out of hiding after finding that Thea Queen is his illegitimate daughter, to protect her from Slade's Mirakuru-soldiers who are running amok. However he can't resist putting her life at risk in the service of his schemes, causing them to become estranged again. In the fifth season climax however, [[LandMineGoesClick he steps on a land mine's pressure plate to take the place of Thea]], then blows himself up to take out the soldiers pursuing her.

* In ''Film/SpiderMan'', Norman Osborn's last words to the titular hero, after a last attempt to kill him with his glider backfires, are "Don't tell Harry", referring to his son Harry Osborn.

* ''Literautre/DanielHawthorneMysteries'': Doubly subverted in ''[[spoiler:The Word is Murder]]''. The villain [[spoiler:seems like a doting FamilyMan, but, during his MotiveRant, claims to feel no true affection for his wife and children. However, barely a sentence later, he says that he'll do anything he can to protect his eldest son from experiencing the same kind of disillusionment and heartbreak that he experienced when he tried to be an actor.]]

* ''Literautre/DanielHawthorneNovels'': * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Doubly subverted in ''[[spoiler:The Word is Murder]]''. The villain [[spoiler:seems like a doting FamilyMan, but, during his MotiveRant, claims to feel no true affection for his wife and children. However, barely a sentence later, he says that he'll do anything he can to protect his eldest son from experiencing the same kind of disillusionment and heartbreak that he experienced when he tried to be an actor.]]

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, [[AbusiveParents abuses his daughter Angel]] by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controls the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to control machines to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother. During the game, Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains; if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a megalomaniacal despot. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins genuinely panicking over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by hurting her and begs you not to hurt his "baby girl". He even throws his original goal of unlocking the vault completely out the window, angrily screaming, "Don't you know what you're DOING?! Who cares about the goddamn key--you're gonna end the life of an innocent girl!" After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you that he will stop at nothing to kill you, because you've taken away his only loved one, and he now has nothing left to lose.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, [[AbusiveParents abuses his daughter Angel]] by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controls the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to control machines to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother while a bandit was trying to kidnap Angel. During the game, Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and she wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains, and if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a despot over Pandora. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins genuinely panicking over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by hurting her and begs you not to hurt his "baby girl". He even throws his original goal of unlocking the vault completely out the window, angrily screaming, "Don't you know what you're DOING?! Who cares about the goddamn key--you're gonna end the life of an innocent girl!" After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you that he will stop at nothing to kill you, because you've taken away his only loved one, and he now has nothing left to lose.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, [[AbusiveParents abuses his daughter Angel]] by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controls the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to control machines to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother while a bandit was trying to kidnap Angel. During the game, Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and she wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains, and if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a despot over Pandora. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins genuinely panicking over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by trying to "kill an innocent girl", imploring you not to hurt his "baby girl". He even throws his original goal of unlocking the vault completely out the window, angrily asking you, "Don't you know what you're DOING?! Who cares about the goddamn key--you're gonna end the life of an innocent girl!" After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you that he will stop at nothing to kill you, because you've taken away his only loved one, and now he has nothing left to lose.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, [[AbusiveParents abuses his daughter Angel]] by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controls the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to control machines to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother while a bandit was trying to kidnap Angel. During the game, Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and she wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains, and if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a despot over Pandora. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins panicking in earnest over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by trying to "kill an innocent girl", imploring you not to hurt his "baby girl". He even throws his original goal of unlocking the vault completely out the window, angrily asking you, "Don't you know what you're DOING?! Who cares about the goddamn key--you're gonna end the life of an innocent girl!" After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you that he will stop at nothing to kill you, because you've taken away his only loved one, and now he has nothing left to lose.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, [[AbusiveParents abuses his daughter Angel]] by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controls the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to control machines to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother while a bandit was trying to kidnap Angel. During the game, when Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and she wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains, and if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a despot over Pandora. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins panicking in earnest over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by trying to "kill an innocent girl", imploring you not to hurt his "baby girl". He even throws his original goal of unlocking the vault completely out the window, angrily asking you, "Don't you know what you're DOING?! Who cares about the goddamn key--you're gonna end the life of an innocent girl!" After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you that he will stop at nothing to kill you, because you've taken away his only loved one, and now he has nothing left to lose.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, [[AbusiveParents abuses his daughter Angel]] by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controlled the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to control machines to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother while a bandit was trying to kidnap Angel. During the game, when Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and she wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains, and if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a despot over Pandora. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins panicking in earnest over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by trying to "kill an innocent girl", imploring you not to hurt his "baby girl". He even throws his original goal of unlocking the vault completely out the window, angrily asking you, "Don't you know what you're DOING?! Who cares about the goddamn key--you're gonna end the life of an innocent girl!" After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you that he will stop at nothing to kill you, because you've taken away his only loved one, and now he has nothing left to lose.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, abuses his daughter Angel by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controlled the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to control machines to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother while a bandit was trying to kidnap Angel. During the game, when Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and she wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains, and if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a despot over Pandora. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins panicking in earnest over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by trying to "kill an innocent girl", imploring you not to hurt his "baby girl". He even throws his original goal of unlocking the vault completely out the window, angrily asking you, "Don't you know what you're DOING?! Who cares about the goddamn key--you're gonna end the life of an innocent girl!" After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you that he will stop at nothing to kill you, because you've taken away his only loved one, and now he has nothing left to lose.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, abuses his daughter Angel by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controlled the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to control machines to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother while a bandit was trying to kidnap Angel. During the game, when Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and she wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains, and if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a despot over Pandora. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins panicking in earnest over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by trying to "kill an innocent girl", imploring you not to hurt his "baby girl". He even throws his original goal of unlocking the vault completely out the window, angrily asking you, "Don't you know what you're DOING?! Who cares about the goddamn key--you're gonna end the life of an innocent girl!" After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you to watch your back, because nothing is more dangerous than a man with nothing left to lose.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, abuses his daughter Angel by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controlled the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to control machines to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother while a bandit was trying to kidnap Angel. During the game, when Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and she wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains, and if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a despot over Pandora. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins panicking in earnest over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by trying to "kill an innocent girl", imploring you not to hurt his "baby girl", and pleads with Angel, telling her that all the horrible things he's done have been to protect her. He even throws his original goal of unlocking the vault completely out the window, angrily asking you, "Don't you know what you're DOING?! Who cares about the goddamn key--you're gonna end the life of an innocent girl!" After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you to watch your back, because nothing is more dangerous than a man with nothing left to lose.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, abuses his daughter Angel by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controlled the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to control machines to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother while a bandit was trying to kidnap Angel. During the game, when Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and she wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains, and if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a despot over Pandora. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins panicking in earnest over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by trying to "kill an innocent girl", imploring you not to hurt his "baby girl", and pleads with Angel, telling her that all the horrible things he's done have been to protect her. After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you to watch your back, because nothing is more dangerous than a man with nothing left to lose.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, abuses his daughter Angel by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controlled the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to [[{Technopath} control machines]] to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother. During the game, when Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and she wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains, and if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a despot over Pandora. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins panicking in earnest over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by trying to "kill an innocent girl", imploring you not to hurt his "baby girl", and pleads with Angel, telling her that all the horrible things he's done have been to protect her. After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you to watch your back, because nothing is more dangerous than a man with nothing left to lose.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, abuses his daughter Angel by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controlled the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to [[{Technopath control} machines]] to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother. During the game, when Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and she wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains, and if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a despot over Pandora. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins panicking in earnest over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by trying to "kill an innocent girl", imploring you not to hurt his "baby girl", and pleads with Angel, telling her that all the horrible things he's done have been to protect her. After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you to watch your back, because nothing is more dangerous than a man with nothing left to lose.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' in that the villain in question, Handsome Jack, abuses his daughter Angel by keeping her hooked up to a machine that controlled the entire Hyperion computer network, utilizing her Siren power to [[Technopath control machines]] to watch over multiple star systems; keeping in line with his consistent view of himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, he says he does this because back when she was first put in charge of the system as a young child, she couldn't control her powers, which led to the unintentional death of her mother. During the game, when Angel asks you to kill her because she CannotSelfTerminate and she wants to be free of the system that uses her as a battery to charge Jack's vault key, since she's physically dependent on the Eridium it contains, and if Jack's plan comes to fruition, it'll awaken the Vault monster and allow him to become even more of a despot over Pandora. But when you start to actually fire on her, Jack begins panicking in earnest over his daughter's safety. He's horrified at you for trying to get to him by trying to "kill an innocent girl", imploring you not to hurt his "baby girl", and pleads with Angel, telling her that all the horrible things he's done have been to protect her. After she dies, he spirals into a complete VillainousBreakdown and tells you to watch your back, because nothing is more dangerous than a man with nothing left to lose.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder: Film - Live-Action]]

* In ''Literature/{{NOS4A2}}'', Charlie Manx is ([[OurVampiresAreDifferent more or less]]) an almost 120 year old vampire who has spent most of that time abducting children and taking them to his SmallSecludedWorld where they, like him, become vampires [[LackOfEmpathy completely lacking in anything like empathy and morality]]. He still instinctively jumps in the way of danger to protect his daughter from harm when [[MamaBear Vic]] is executing her RoaringRampageOfRevenge to get her son back from Manx. Vic notices it happening but it earns no sympathy from her, she just think to herself that all sorts of monsters can [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes have people they care about]] or can believe that their horribleness is somehow good.

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', while Gul Dukat was initially going to kill his illegitimate teenage daughter Ziyal due to her mixed-race, Kira helped convinced him not to and he quickly became very protective of her. Despite this, he's pretty scummy and horribly monstrous in other ways, for instance perving on Kira (and her ''mom'') and having previously killed millions of her species, some by execution and others by working them to death as slaves. His love and affection for Ziyal are his most redeeming qualities and marked the NobleDemon phase of his character arc. [[spoiler:Her death, and the circumstances around it, drive him mad. After he recovers his wits and realizes there is nobody left who cares about his attempts to be Noble, he vows to embrace being a CardCarryingVillain instead]]

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', while Gul Dukat was initially going to kill his teenage daughter Ziyal, after Kira convinced him not to, he became very protective of her. Despite this, he's pretty scummy in other ways, for instance perving on Kira and having previously killed thousands of her species.

* In ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'', Marisa Coulter, who had children [[spoiler: brutally experimented on and mutilated]] in the name of the [[CorruptChurch Magisterium]], kidnapped her daughter [[spoiler:Lyra]] to save her from her employeers and later [[spoiler:throw herself [[TakingYouWithMe with an angel]] into the void to save her again]].